Vapor degreaser



Nov. 1,1, 1958 E. PLAssMr-:YERr

VAPOR DEGREASER 2 'sheets-sheet 2 Filed Aug. 24, 1953 mw Q88 ww QN ww Bm,

LOUIS EDWARD PLASSMEYER Unite rates VAPOR DEGREASER Application August 24, 1953, Serial No..375,969

12 Claims. (Cl. 202--170) This invention relates to degreasing apparatus, and particularly to a Vapor degreaser.

A vapor degreaser in its simplest commercial form consists of a high tank vhaving two sumps in the bottom, one a vaporizing sump containing heating e1ements,fand the other a distillate sump into which is drained cleanV distilled solvent. A plate is placed over the 'distillate sump in such a manner thatit drains the drippings from the work into the vaporizing sump. Such a degreaser is shown in United States Patent No. 2,574,084, datedy November 6, 1951, to John Bash. The theory of this degreaser turns on collecting all sludge in the vaporizing sump so that the distillate sump will always be clean. This makes it possible to distill substantially all of the solvent inthe machine collecting it in the distillate sump and draining the solvent from the distillate sump to some outside vessel. When the degreaser is empty, it can be cleaned.

The above-described apparatus is economical in opera tion where the parts that are being cleaned are them,` selves comparatively free Iof dirt. Thus, where the machine is being used for removing various types of light oils from newly machined parts the accumulationl of-r dirt in the vaporizing sump is slow and the accumulation is of such a sort that it does not rapidly cake on the heating elements whether they are electrical;`

or gas, or steam pipes. There are some applications where the parts being degreased are very dirty, such,` as used engine blocks, and the collection of sludge in the vaporizing sump is rapid and the nature. of the ma-v terial is such that it cakes hard on the heating media. The caking is so hard that the heating media have'toibe cleaned with a cold chisel. Moreover,` there are some applicationsv in which the cakingv developsv so rapidlyv that the heating media become ineicient within a matter of weeks.

The principal object of this invention is to protect the heating media from such caking. A feature lof-this invention is the reversal of the drain pan or imperforateplate. and the side collection troughs so as to make thel vaporizing sump a comparatively clean sump. A true.

distillate sump is abandoned while thevold distillate sumpl becomes a settling sump. The drain pan is placed over the vaporizing sump and the troughs. drain into the vaporizing sump.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for quickly cleaning the settling sump. A feature of the invention is the provision ofy a removable sludgey pan in the settling sump positioned beneath the lower edge of the drain plate over the vaporizing sump. Theresult is that all of the drippings of dirt from the parts being degreased drop either directly into thisremovableY pan or are carried there by the the. imperforate` plate. rIhe sludge p an is liquid-tight and most of the dirtwill settle to the bottom of, this pan.

4Another object of this invention is to establish a counter-flow of dirty solvent4 in the settling sump. A feature of this invention is the provision of a sludge pan atent O assaoss Patented Nov. 1l., 1958 ICC whose upper edges are higher than the height of the dam or partition between the settling and vaporizing sumps, which in conjunction with resting the edge of the drain plate on the sludge pan causes the sludge pan to lact as a settling sump independent of the settling sump in which it is resting. The arrangement is Ysuch that there is a ow of the solvent out of the sludge pan in a direction away from the partition or dam andl thence back through the settling sump over the dam intol the vaporlzmg sump. Y

Another object of the invention is to make it possible to distill in this new type of degreaser'. A feature -of the machine vis the provision yofan outside Istorage tank into which is drained all condensed solvents whichoccurs at a comparatively high point in the degreaser. This storage reservoir is connected through a oat controlled meter positioned adjacent'the vaporizing sump at a level above the level `of the heating elements but below the dam between the two sumps.

These and such `other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained in the embodimentof the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation perspective view with the front side panel removed of applicants degreaser with a reservoir and iloat valve schematically illustrated on the side; and,

Fig. 2 is a schematic side elevation of the degreaser showing the pipe connections.

Continuing to refer to the drawings, in'Fig. 1, appli'- cants degreaser with the front side panel removed! is generally indicated by the numeral 10. It comprises end` panels 12` and 14 and side panels such as 16; A- water jacket 18- is mounted around the outer upper portion of the tank and connected to a suitable source of water not shown. Interiorly of the tank and beneath the water jacket is a distillation collection trough' 20 whichv drains into a solvent reservoir 22 through a pipe 24. A water separator is usually positioned in this line 24. The exact positioning of the distillation troughA 20- is not critical excepting that. it should be belowv the water jacket 18 and in the upper portionl of the tank.

Forthe purposes of this invention, the presence of the water. jacket is immaterial. A water jacket is` cornmonly used on degreasers employing trichlorethylene which boils at about F., and which4 may be heated. by steam pipes. Degreasers employing..tetrachlorethylene require a hotter v heating element because tetrachlorethylene boils at about 250 F. While a water jacket can be used, commonly, the heating element iselectricaland it is controlled by a vapor controly positioned inv the upper part of the degreaser. When the vaporY reachesr the control, the electrical heating elements are turnedL off.

The Ibottom of applicants degreaser is divided into two sumps, the vaporizing or boiling sump 26, and the settling or distillate sump 2S. These are separated by a partition r30 in water-tight engagement with the side walls. Removably mounted in the vaporizing sump 26 is a set of steam heating coils 32. The height of the and 40, the sludge pan may be passed downwardly. so that it will rest on its legs .42 on the bottom of the settling The coils shown are steam, but might..

pan, that is, the one adjacent to the partition 30, has its top edge 45 about one inch higher than that of the top edge of the partition 30. The adjacent side walls of the sludge pan have their'top edges at thesame height as the edge 45. The opposite yend wall 46 of the sludge pan away from the partition has its top edge 47 about .one-'quarter inch lower than the top edges of the end wall -44. v These differences in heights of the two end walls of the sludge pan and the partition may be varied, but it is important that the top of the partition 30 be lower than the top edge 47 of the end wall 46, and that the top edge 47 of the end wall 46 be lower than the top edges 45 of the end wall 44 and adjacent side walls. j

Suspended from the inside of the Yside wall 12 by hooks such as 4S is an imperfor'ate drain pan 50 having side flanges such as 52. This drain pan at its right end Vrests on the top edge 45 of the end wall 44 of the sludge pan 36 and it extends to substantially the midpoint of the sludge pan. It slopes downwardly toward the sludge pan.

Mounted at one side of the vaporizing sump 26 is a float assembly 54. A oat chamber 56 is in constant communication by the pipe 58 with the vapo-rizing sump 26. The float 57 controls a valve 60 schematically shown in a pipeline 62 and 64 connecting the reservoir 22 to the vaporizing sump 26. The oatis so positioned that when the level of the solvent in the Yvaporizing sump drops toward the top of the heating coils 32, the float opens the valve 60 and solvent ows from the reservoir into the vaporizing sump.

;A small feature which has proved useful is applicants connecting a vent 66 on the oat chamber to the upper part of the reservoir 22. Occasionally, a reservoir oods. When this occurs, the excess moves down the pipe 66 directlyinto the oat chamber and thence by the pipeV 58 enters the vaporizing sump. This occurs usually when too much solvent has been placed in the degreaser. Without this overow vent, the collection trough will flood and the solvent will drop over onto the pan with resulting excess agitation over in the settling sump.

Operation Assuming that the vaporizing sump 26 has been lled and the reservoir 22 adequately charged with solvent, as the solvent vaporizes, it will condense on the work suspended at the point 68. If the solvent is vaporizing at a rate greater than condensation occurs on the work and side walls, it will reach the water jacket which will condense the heavy vapor and it will ow down the sides of the tank into the collectio-n trough 20 and thence into the reservoir 22. As the solvent boils out of the vaporizing sump 26, the oat 57 will drop and open the valve 60, thereby maintaining a selected level of solvent in the vaporizing sump. This liquid level control also replenishes the vaporizing sump with solvent to otset that carried out on the work parts.

The solvent vapor that condenses on the side Walls of the degreaser below the collection trough 20 is all directed into the vaporizingsump 26. Where the condensation actually occurs on walls that form the side walls of that sump, the distilled solvent descends directly into that sump.

That which occurs on the walls above the settling sump.

is caught by the trough 34 and carried over the partition or dam 30 into the vaporizing sump. This is the exact reverse of what is done in the apparatus disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,574,084, where all of the vapor condensing on the side walls is gathered in a distillatesump, that is, taken away from the vapo-rizing sump.

The vapor that condenses on the work dropseither onto the pan 50 or directly into the sludge pan 36. The delivery edge 70 of the drain pan 50, being substantially centered over the sludge pan 36, will tend to settle in the pan and build up a mound as indi-cated by the dotted lines 72. Most of the constituents of sludge are heavier than the liquid solvent and will settle to the bottomcf the ifo sludge pan 36. This is particularly true of sludge coming from used engine blocks where most of the material is dirt from the highways. There are many constituents of sludge thatrremain suspended in the liquid solvent but they are lighter. When the pan 36 is full, the so-lvent flows over the top edge 47 'of the end wall 46 and thence it tlows under and around the sludge pan 36 over to the partition 30. When the settling sump is full, the solvent iiows'overV the partition 30 into the vaporizingV sump. The flow of the solvent, therefore, is from the sludge pan 36, referring to Fig. 2, into the settling sump 28, see the arrow 74, and thence into the vaporizing sump, see the arrow 76. While in the settling sump 28, additional impurities'will settle out of the solvent. However, it is not distilled solvent.

The advantage of this flow of condensed solvent and sludge is that the heating coils are kept comparatively clean. In the apparatus which applicants assignee has had on the market for some years, and which is shown basically in United States Patent No. 2,574,084, the sludge is carried directly into the vaporizing sump. It tends to colle-ct and bake on the heating elements. As the baked coating of sludge thickens, the heating elements do not perform properly. In the case of the electric heating element, there is a delay in the production of heat when the thermostat closes its circuit. In the case of the steam pipes, the amount of steam that is introduced to the coils must be increased because of this baked sludge coating and this imposes a rather diiicult manual control upon operators. With either type of heating element, after the sludge coating has reached a certain thickness, the heating element must be removed and the cake chipped olf with a chisel. This operation frequently damages the heating element; it takes the degreaser out of use for a substantial period of time; it necessitates removing the solvent from the machine, particularly where no reservoir is employed; and each removal of the heating element requires time and new gasketing. Applicants assignee has users of its equipment which are obliged to remove the heating elements as many as twenty times a year, at least once every three weeks.

In the present machine, practically all of the sludge that really coats and cakes the heating element is caught in the sludge pan 36. While some of the lighter cutting oils and the like pass on from the sludge pan through the settling sump 28 into the vaporizing sump, the quantity is comparatively small. Caking on the heating elements is reduced by 75% to 80%.

The arrangement above shown has been obtained at the sacrice of providing a degreaser (without reservoir) which will distill. Ability to distill is important because periodically the vaporizing sump should be operating with clean solvent. In order to distill, applicant has adopted the conventional side storage reservoir. Applicant employs the collection trough 20 to carry distilled solvent into the reservoir. As previously explained, the distilled solvent is used during operation of the degreaser to feed the vaporizing sump. For completeness, applicant has shown in the schematic Figure 2, the controls for moving solvent to desirable points. A pump 78 has pipe connections to the reservoir 22, the vaporizing sump 26 and the settling sump 28. The output of the pump can either be delivered to some point independent of the degreaser by the line 80 or by the line 82 can be delivered to a hose 84 which may be manipulated by an operator to spray on the Work. While these degreasers stand from seven feet or more in height, they are commonly placed in a `floorwell so that their upper edges are about three feet above the level of the floor. A workman can operate easily around the top of the degreaser.

Having the top edge of the side Wall of the sludge pan 36 higher than the partition 30 but below the other walls 1of the pan, increases the time during which the lighter .over the, distillate sump.

deed,t the sludge pan functio-nsfsurprisingly well even when the top edges of the pan are lower than the'top of the partition, The elect of the varying heights'of the walls of the sludge pan is to create in one settling sump twoindependent settling sumps. y lt concentrates most of the agitation of the solvent in the sludge pan itself. The flow of liquid over the Wall 46 in the partition 3.0 is in a-sheet in most instances; itis more of a running over the edge than 'a heavy dripping. i

It is immaterial Whether the machine is operating on trichlorethylene or tetrachlorethylene. While the boiling points of these two liquids are respectively below and above the b oiling point ofwater, in their liquid state, their ow properties are much the same.

There are many three-sump degreasers wherein the third sump is adistillate sump. The distillate sump replaces the reservoir'or acts as the reservoir.l These degreasers have a substantially larger planY area and are used in applications where the'object immersed in the vapor is large. In such a degreaser, the imperforate drain'plate would extend overl both the distillate sump and the vaporizing sump, assuming that they were adjacent to each other with the three surnps in a line. The lower collectiontrough for distillate would bearrang'ed to drain directly into the distillate sump, If with three aligned slumps, the settling sump was positioned in between the distillate sump and the vaporizing sump, the'lower distillate trough would again drain into the distillate sump, but there would be two drain plates, one over the vaporizing sump and one 'In the three-sump vaporizing degreaser, the sumps could be related to each other in various ways, one sump running along the entire side of the apparatus with the other two sumps occupying the remaining bottom ofthe apparatus. The principal, however, would remain the same. The distillate troughs would drain directly into the distillate sump and vaporizing and distillate sumps would be covered by drain plates.

emptying into the settling sump.

Having thus described applicants invention,.what he claims is:

l. A degreasing apparatusV comprising a tank having a bottom and side walls, a partition positioned between the side walls in the lower portion of said tank and dividing said lower portion into two, liquid-tight sumps called respectively a vaporizing sump and a settling sump whereby the latter sump may overiiow the partition into the vaporizing sump, a heating element in the vaporizing sump, and an imperforate and rem-ovable drain plate positioned over the vaporizing sump and draining into the settling sump whereby solvent dripping from the work will collect in the settling sump.

2. A degreasing apparatus comprising a tank having a bottom and side walls, a partitionpositioned between the side walls in the lower portion of said tank and dividing said lower portion into two, liquid-tight sumps called respectively a vaporizing sump and a settling sump whereby the latter sump may overflow the partition into the vaporizing sump, a heating element in the vaporizing sump, an upwardly open sludge pan in the settling sump, and an imperforate and removable drain plate positioned over the vaporizing sump and draining into the sludge pan whereby solvent dripping from the work will iirst collect in the sludge pan.

3. A degreasing apparatus comprising a tank having a bottom and side walls, a partition positioned between the side walls in the lower portion of said tank and dividing said lower portion into two, liquid-tight sumps called respectively a vaporizing sump and a settling sump whereby the latter sump may overflow the partition into the vaporizing sump, a heating element in the vaporizing sump, an upwardly open sludge pan positioned in the settling sump, the upper edges of the sludge pan being above the top of the partition, and an imperforate and removable drain plate positioned over the vaporizing sump and 6 v draining .into the sludge pan whereby solvent dripping from vthe work will rst collect in the sludge pan.d

4. A degreasing apparatus comprising a tank having a bottom and side walls, a partition positioned between the side walls in the lower portion of said tank and dividing said lower portion into two, liquid-tight sumps called respectively a vaporizing sump and a settling sump whereby the latter sump may overilow the partition into the vaporizing sump, a heating element in the vaporizing sump, an upwardly open sludge pan positioned in the settling sump, the upper edges of the sludge pan being above the top of the partition, a liquid passageway in the upper part of the sludge pan below its top edges but also above the top of the partition, and an imperforate and removable drain plate positioned over the vaporizing sump and'drain# ing into the sludge pan whereby solvent dripping from the work will drop its heavy sludge into the sludge pan and then circulate through theV settling sump and over the partition to the vaporizing sump.

5. A degreasing apparatus `comprising a tank having a bottom and side walls, a partitionpositioned between the side walls'in the lower portion of said tank and dividing said lower portion into two, liquid-tight sumps called respectively a vaporizing sump and a settling sump whereby the latter sump 4may overow the partition into the vaporizing sump, a heating element in the vaporizing sump, an upwardly open sludgepan positioned in the settling sump, the top edge of the sludge pan adjacent the partition being higher thanthe top of the partition and an edge of the sludge pan spaced from theV partition being lower thanthe rst-namedtop edge of the sludge pan and'also higher than the partition, andv an imperforate and removable drain plate positioned-over the vaporizing sump and draining into the sludge pan whereby solvent dripping from the work will drop its heavy sludge into the sludge pan and then circulate through the settling sump and over the partition to the vaporizing sump.

6. A degreasing apparatus comprising a rectangular tank having bottom and side walls, a partition positioned between the side walls in the lower portion of said tank and dividing said lower portion into two rectangular, liquid-tight sumps, called respectively a vaporizing sump and a settling sump whereby the latter sump may overflow the partition into the vaporizing sump, a heating element in the vaporizing sump, a removable rectangular sludge pan seated in the settling sump, the top edges of said pan being higher than the partition, a support mounted on the inside wall of the tank above the vaporizing sump and at a height above the top of the sludge pan, and an imperforate and removable drain platehaving one end resting on said support and the other end resting on a top edge of the sludge pan and extending adjacent the midpoint of the sludge pan whereby solvent dripping from the work will deposit heavy sludge in the center of the sludge pan and then circulate through the settling sump and over the partition to the vaporizing sump.

7. A degreasing apparatus comprising a tank having a bottom and side walls, a partition positioned between the side walls in the lower portion of said tank and dividing said lower portion into two, liquid-tight surnps called respectively a vaporizing sump and a settling sump whereby the latter sump may overow the partition into the vaporizing sump, a heating element in the vaporizing sump, a gutter extending around the inside walls over the settling sump and over the partition so as to drain into the vaporizing sump, and an imperforate and removable drain plate positioned over the vaporizing sump and sloped downwardly toward and terminating above the settling sump, whereby solvent dripping from the work will collect initially in the settling sump.

8. A degreasing apparatus comprising a rectangular tank having bottom and side walls, an upright transverse partition mounted in the lower part of the tank and dividing the lower part into two, liquid-tight sumps called a settling lsump and a vaporizing sump whereby the latter sump mayfoverow the partition into the vaporizing sump, an angle iron facing'the side wall and mounted thereon and extending from apoint above the partition to the'end wall of the settling sump, a similar angle iron similarly mounted on the opposite side wall, an angle iron similarly mounted on the end wall connecting the first two angle irons, said angle irons forming with the side Walls a U- shaped gutter over the settling sump opening at its ends into the vaporizing sump, a bracket mounted on the inside of a wall of the vaporizing sump at a height slightly above the top of the partition, and a removable, imperforate drain plate resting at one end on said bracket and at the other end at a point immediately above the top of the partition so that the plate slopes toward and drains into the settling sump.

9. A degreasing apparatus comprising a tank having a bottom and side walls, an upright partition positioned between the side walls and in the lower portion of said tank and dividing said lower portion into two, liquid-tight sumps called respectively a vaporizing sump and a distillate sump whereby the latter sump may overflow the partition into'the vaporizing sump, a heating element in the vaporizing sump, a gutter opening into the distillate sump and fastened to and extending around the inside ,walls over the settling sump and opening at a point over the partition at its opposite end, an upwardly open liquidtight sludge pan positioned in the settling sump adjacent the partition, and a readily removable, imperforate drain plate substantially covering the distillate sump and sloping toward and terminating above the sludge pan.

10. The degreasing apparatus set forth in claim 9 wherein the upper edge of the sludge pan is at a height slightly above the top of the partition so that the sludge pan will overflow into the settling sump and the settling sump will overflow into the vaporizing sump.

11. A degreasing apparatus comprising a tank having a bottom and side walls, two upwardly open sumps, one a vaporizing sump and the other a settling sump, spaced by a partition in the bottom of the tank, a heating element in the vaporizing sump, a water jacket around the upper portion of the tank, a distillation trough around the inner wall of the tank immediately below the water jacket, a storage reservoir mountedv onthe degreaser, means for draining the distillation trough into the storage reservoir, means foriowing all solvent dropped from the work into the settling sump, a chamber connected to the vaporizing sump by a liquidV passageway below the top of the partition and above the heating element, a float in the chamber, a valve controlled by the position of said oat, a conduit from the reservoir to the inlet of the valve and a second conduit from the outlet of the valve into the vaporizing sump, whereby when the liquid in the vaporizing sump drops toward the top of the heating elements, the float will open the valve so as to introduce distilled solvent to the vaporizing Sump. i

12. The degreaser of claim 11 wherein a pipe connects the float chamber with the upper part of the storage reservoir to act as both a vent and an overow pipe so that the system will operate at atmospheric pressure.

References Cited' in the iile of lthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,938,841' Koch Dec. l2, 1933 1,973,426 Booth et al. Sept. 11, 1934 2,104,991 Hollerer Ian. 11, 1938 2,108,489 Johnson etal, Feb. 15, 1938 2,158,621 Edhofer et al. May 16, 1939 2,220,724 Seaton Nov. 5, 1940 2,243,093 Flahive May 27, 1941 2,248,662 Edhofer et al. July 8, 1941 2,349,000 Phillips et al. May 16, 1944 2,369,050 Helfenstein Feb. 6, 1945 Y2,574,084 Bash Nov. 6, 1951V FOREIGN PATENTS 273,307 Great Britain Apr. 5, 1928 313,599 Great Britain Aug. 25, 1930 433,472 Great Britain Aug. 15, 1935 779,667 France Apr. 10, 1935 France June 14, 1932 geen" 

1. A DEGREASING APPARATUS COMPRISING A TANK HAVING A BOTTOM AND SIDE WALLS, A PARTITION POSITIONED BETWEEN THE SIDE WALLS IN THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID TANK AND DIVIDING SAID LOWER PORTION INTO TWO, LIQUID-TIGHT SUMPS CALLED RESPECTIVELY A VAPORIZING SUMP AND A SETTLING SUMP WHEREBY THE LATTER SUMP MAY OVERFLOW THE PARTITION INTO THE VAPORIZING SUMP, A HEATING ELEMENT IN THE VAPORIZING SUMP, AND AN IMPERFORATE AND REMOVABLE DRAIN PLATE POSITIONED OVER THE VAPORIZING SUMP AND DRAINING INTO THE SETTLING SUMP WHEREBY SOLVENT DRIPPING FROM THE WORK WILL COLLECT IN THE SETTLING SUMP. 